Tuesday, August 04, 2009

The Drudge Report has a sweet piece of tape that the White House doesn't want anyone to see. It features a series of clips of Barack Obama as president denying he wants "some government takeover of health care," as well as Obama as candidate as far back as 2003 saying he favors a "single-payer" system. It also includes Illinois Congresswoman Jan Schakowsky happily telling a boisterous crowd that a "public option" will drive private insurance companies out of business.

If you missed it, it is here. (Sorry about the link, but I apparently haven't mastered the art of embedding video yet.)

The White House doesn't like this clip. In fact, it's so distressing to them that they've trotted out the Director of Communications for the White House's Health Reform Office (yes, that is apparently a real job now), Linda Douglass, to answer it. In the video clip released by the White House (here), she frowns at the Drudge Report, takes her impressively intellectual glasses on and off, and shows us some clips of President Obama claiming he wants you to keep your coverage and your doctor, if you like them.

Wow. I am so convinced.

It would seem that the White House doesn't understand that showing us a politician saying something now does not necessarily negate footage of the politician saying something different then. In fact, the older footage is more credible, because at the time it was taken, the politician didn't know what would be politically required of him now. And, obviously, now the politician has a vested interest in lying, because he knows what the current political climate is.

But we should pay no attention to that man behind the curtain, because President Obama's history begins when he became president. We are not to question--or even mention--anything that has come before. Not his lifelong connections to people for whom the single-payer system is the holy grail of health insurance. Not his actions or attitudes or legislation as an Illinois state Senator. Not the past writings of the people he's hiring by the truckload.

No, just listen to his words today. And nod and smile when Linda Douglass tells you to ignore the Drudge Report.